


when your legs don't work like they used to before

by Skylar102



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Broken Bones, Fluff and Humor, Friendship, Gen, Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:21:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,331
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27312547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skylar102/pseuds/Skylar102
Summary: “This is embarrassing,” Alec grumbles.“It’s only embarrassing if you let it be,” Simon sing songs.“I may have lost my stele, but I still have my knife and can stab you.”“You wouldn’t do that to your brother. You love Jace too much,” Simon counters.
Relationships: Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood, Simon Lewis & Alec Lightwood, Simon Lewis/Jace Wayland
Comments: 22
Kudos: 258





	when your legs don't work like they used to before

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ByTheAngell (SomeLittleInfamy)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SomeLittleInfamy/gifts).



> HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY ELLE!!
> 
> ~~Man am I horrible about posting fics on people's birthdays~~
> 
> Thanks for the beta [Em](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatnerdemilyj/works)!!

“This is embarrassing,” Alec grumbles.

“It’s only embarrassing if you let it be,” Simon sing songs.

“I may have lost my stele, but I still have my knife and _can_ stab you.”

“You wouldn’t do that to your brother. You love Jace too much,” Simon counters.

“Shows what you know about me,” Alec mutters. He hides his face in his arm as the vampire lets out a hearty laugh. He feels the hold on his legs loosen and he tightens his grip. “If you drop me, Lewis, I will ban you from the Institute for a week.”

“I would never drop you,” Simon promises, though there is mirth in his voice. “Jace would never forgive me for harming his parabatai.” 

Alec lets out a deep sigh and doesn’t argue. Not because he knows that Simon’s right; that would be ridiculous. Then again, this whole situation is ridiculous.

It was supposed to be a simple night out at Hunter’s Moon with Simon for what the vampire calls a “Bro Night.” Alec still doesn’t know exactly what that means, but he’s stopped trying to understand Simon once he starts to go on one of his tangents.

Everything was going fine, great even. Alec didn’t realize how much he needed a night out with someone who wasn’t family until he and Simon started to go out for drinks. Alec didn’t know what to talk about since all he did was work and go home to Magnus. The times that Alec and Magnus found themselves free of work to go on dates or somewhere haven’t been as frequent as the couple had hoped. 

Simon discovered that Magnus had been getting called away to the Spiral Labyrinth a lot recently. Something to do about a new discovery of magic and the Labyrinth called upon the oldest and wisest warlocks to help with researching it. Of course, that means his wonderful and powerful boyfriend is being called away more and more. Magnus tried to come home every night but after too many times that Alec found his boyfriend passed out on the couch getting home late, Alec told him to just stay there until they didn’t need him anymore.

He didn’t realize that it would be a two month long process.

So everyone has been trying to keep him distracted, Simon the most. The vampire knew what it was like when Jace was called to the Moscow Institute to help with a demon infestation that lasted two weeks. Simon had Clary to fall back on, Alec didn’t really have anyone besides Magnus. 

This is not to say that he didn’t have his family, but he’s _always_ had his family. It wasn’t until Magnus left that he realized he didn’t really have close friends. 

That’s when Simon stepped in. While his family and Clary still had their shadowhunter duties, Simon wasn’t really doing much himself except for being one of the New York Clan’s liaisons with the Institute. 

When Alec opened the door to the energetic vampire, he’s not ashamed to say he closed it in Simon’s face. Of course, after he listened to Simon make a decent enough argument, he grabbed his coat and followed him to Hunter’s Moon. It was awkward at first, Maia was not afraid to laugh at the two of them and say they looked like they swallowed lemons. Eventually, with enough drinks in their system, they ended up having a good time. Maia helped be the middle person between them.

That was five weeks ago. Now the duo has been going out at least twice a week either to Hunter’s Moon or some other downworld bar one of them found out about. Tonight was no different. 

That is until Alec felt a demon nearby and went to dispatch it only to be thrown against a dumpster wrong and ending up with a broken leg. He had tried to heal the appendage with his stele but discovered he had fallen on it and broke it.

Seeing as how he wouldn’t be getting far, Simon offered to help him to the loft which meant carrying him. Alec was not about to let the vampire bridal carry him so they resorted to the classic piggyback ride. 

They must look ridiculous with how much taller Alec is than Simon. He was thankful it was three o’clock in the morning so no one was really out in the streets and they weren’t near any of the downworld hotspots. If word got out that Simon gave Alec a piggyback ride, he would probably have to go into hiding, just for the teasing his siblings would give him alone.

“Here we are!” Simon announces getting Alec to look up from his hiding place behind Simon’s neck. “Casa de Magnus Bane.” Simon looks over his shoulder at him with a smirk. “Did you want me to carry you to the loft or would you prefer to walk?”

Simon was giving him an early out, clearly catching on to his feelings about the whole situation. Glancing up at the tall building, knowing Magnus owns the top floor makes him never want to walk again.

“Could you take me to the front door?” He asks, glaring at the stairs. “I think I could make it the rest of the way if you get me there.”

“You got it!” Simon says, boosting Alec up and readjusting his grip before making his way to the front door. “I am so happy that Magnus’ place has elevators or we’d really be in trouble. I can handle a single flight of stairs but that many? Nope. I would leave you right here in the lobby.”

“You wouldn’t dare,” Alec laughs, holding his arm out to open the door for the two of them. “Magnus would hunt you down if you left me defenseless.”

“Well it’s a good thing I find him scarier than you,” Simon jokes back. 

“Now that I know for a fact is a lie,” he chuckles. “Or are you forgetting the whole week you avoided the Institute after I found out about your’s and Jace’s fight?”

“You promised to never speak of that again,” Simon hisses, the arms around Alec’s legs squeeze tight. “It was a moment of weakness for both of us.”

Alec hums a laugh and reaches out to press the button to the top floor. The ride is quiet save for the sound of grinding gears in the old elevator and the dings as they pass all the floors. He thinks Simon is humming a tune that his band plays, but he starts to feel tired. 

Whatever alcohol was still filtering through his system, the adrenaline from the fight and the time of the night are catching up to him. He doesn’t regret going out with Simon, he does regret going after the demon when he could have easily called it in and had a team out there in a matter of minutes. 

Just as Alec feels his eyes close, his broken leg hits the side of the elevator. He gives a shout and a hiss at the jostle.

“Sorry, sorry!” Simon rushes out. He doesn’t even wait for Alec to reply as they reach the top floor, the vampire rushes down the hall to Magnus’ front door. “I, ahh, can’t open the door, think you can do it?”

“If you give me five seconds to breath, maybe,” he gripes as he waits for his leg to stop throbbing. He reaches for his pocket and pulls out his keys. He reaches over Simon’s shoulder, unlocking and opening the door. Simon carries him to the couch and sets him down. He lets out a sigh as he sinks into the fabric of the couch, breathing in the comforting smells of the loft. 

“Okay,” Simon points a finger at him, “you stay there and don’t move your leg.”

Alec grunts out a response that he’s sure had words in it and closes his eyes as he listens to Simon move around the loft, getting whatever is needed for his leg.

“My spare stele is in the apothecary at my desk,” he says to the ceiling, knowing that Simon will hear it. “Also feel free to get a drink from the bar. Carrying me all the way here probably drained you.”

“Can’t be drained of anything when you’re dead,” Simon jokes. 

“The dead jokes are a bit stale at this point, don’t you think?”

“Can never get too old for dead jokes.” He can hear the mirth in Simon’s voice and opens his eyes just to glare at the vampire as he passes by the couch. He tries to go back to focusing on the ceiling but the throbbing in his leg has gotten worse. He looks down at the broken leg and realizes he should probably elevate it.

He sets the leg on the coffee table as gently as possible and still winces as it touches the surface. It’s not the worst broken leg he’s had, angel knows that amount of stupid things Jace dragged him into as teenagers. Alec is forever thankful that he has angel blood coursing through his veins, he would never survive as a mundane with a broken limb. Taking six to eight weeks to heal a broken bone sounds like a hardship he never wants to deal with.

“Alright, I found your stele, which was not where you said it was,” Simon announces, waving the item in his face. 

Alec rolls his eyes and snatches it out of Simon’s hand not even waiting to hear where he found the stele at and runs it over his iratze rune. He lets out a curse as the bone snaps into place, taking deep breaths as his leg heals.

He hears a noise to his right and sees Simon staring at his calf in horror. “Dude, that was awful,” he flabbergasts, his eyes wide staring at his leg like it’s about to come to life. “It sounded like you broke your leg even more.”

“It sometimes feels like that,” Alec grunts, slumping further into the couch now that his leg is healing. “I remember when my arm was almost torn off when I was younger. I think I lost my voice for three days with how much I screamed.”

“I- what?” Simon stutters, glancing at his arms in shock. “You realize that’s not a normal thing to deal with?”

“I’m a Shadowhunter, Simon. You’ve been a part of this world for two years, you should know normal is not a thing we do,” he smirks. 

Simon lets out a grumble, storming to the bar to grab a blood bag, “Stupid shadowhunters and their lack of self care.”

“Hey, I’m better than Jace,” he defends.

“Jace has the bar set so low for what is self care, he shouldn’t be a comparison,” Simon snorts, plopping on the couch next to Alec. The vampire practically chugs the entire bag of blood, which slightly offends him. He wasn’t that difficult to carry, was he?

“I’ll make sure to tell him you said that next time I see him,” he says instead. 

“Go ahead, he already knows how much I fret over him and get angry at him when he doesn’t take care of himself,” Simon says.

Alec is about to retort with something witty but an orangish glow fills the room as a portal comes to life in the entryway. He doesn’t even try to hold back his grin and giddiness as his boyfriend steps through the portal. The grin doesn’t stay long as he takes in how tired Magnus looks. His boyfriend must be using sheer willpower to stand up straight.

“Hey Magnus,” Simon greets. The warlock startles at the voice and looks to the couch where Simon and him sit. It seems he’s so tired that he hadn’t even noticed the duo. 

“Sherman, what a pleasant surprise,” Magnus replies, most of his words covered by a yawn. His boyfriend tries to make his way over to the two, but stumbles. Simon is quick to rush over and catch him before he collapses. “Seems I’m more tired than I thought.”

“You don’t say,” Simon huffs. The vampire helps Magnus to the couch, setting him down next to Alec. Alec wraps an arm around his boyfriend pulling him close and pressing a kiss to his head. Magnus lets out a pleased hum and curls in close. 

“Hello, darling,” Magnus murmurs into his shoulder. “I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you too,” he whispers into Magnus’ hair.

“And that is my cue to leave,” Simon announces with a show of finger guns. Simon grabs his empty blood bag off the couch and tosses it away before making his way to the front door. “Take care of that leg Archerman, and you two lovebirds get some rest.”

“Thank you, Simon,” Alec says. “Despite how tonight went I had a good time.”

“Me too,” Simon laughs, opening the door. He sends a wink over his shoulder. “Just don’t make it a habit.” 

As the front door closes, the loft settles into the quiet that Alec has missed so much. He rubs his face into Magnus’ hair, breathing in his boyfriend and relishing in the fact that he’s back. 

He’s too tired to try and make the move to their bed and he’s sure that Magnus feels the same way with how the breath on his neck is evened out. He makes a decision for the both of them and maneuvers them to be horizontal on the couch. With the arm not trapped by Magnus, he grabs the blanket on the back of the couch and throws it over the two of them. Magnus hums his appreciation and drapes an arm and leg over his body, snuggling into Alec’s side. 

Just as he’s about to drift off, Magnus’ voice barely reaches his ears.

“Darling?” Magnus whispers. 

“Hm?”

“What did Simon mean about your leg?”

“Shhh,” he says, curling his arms around Magnus. “Talk about it tomorrow, sleep now.”

**Author's Note:**

> Come talk to me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/Skylar10211)
> 
> Want to talk about Shadowhunters with other fans?
> 
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